Sleeping With Harry
by JAGNikJen
Summary: Ginny has a nightmare about Harry and must make sure he's okay before she can get back to sleep.


_The basilisk slid after Harry, its large head swinging this way and that as it followed the echoes of his footsteps on the cold stone floor._

_Harry tripped. His head bounced against the stone, echoing softly through the air. And then he lay still._

_The huge serpent stopped as well and cocked its head as if listening. It sniffed the air. Catching the scent of something, the creature slithered forward a few meters. It tested the air once again. Arching its neck and looking straight down, the basilisk grabbed Harry with its spike-riddled mouth._

_Harry shrieked. The shrill cry pierced the air and reverberated throughout the chamber._

_Ginny watched in horror, unable to make a sound, so sharp was her fear. The basilisk shook its huge head like a dog shaking off water and then dropped Harry to the floor._

_He landed with a thud that chilled Ginny to her bones._

_Harry lay there, still and unmoving, blood pouring from the half-dozen holes in his body._

_Ginny screamed._

Ginny's eyes snapped open and she sat up, breathing harshly through her mouth and trying to catch her breath. Her heart pounded within her, making her chest hurt. Her face was wet with tears.

The curtains on her bed were closed and it was so dark she could see nothing, hear nothing over the rapid thud of her pulse pounding in her ears and her heart thumping in her chest. The sound seemed amplified in the confines of her bed, bouncing back to her off the draperies.

_It was just a dream. It was just a dream. It was just a dream._

She lay back down, her chest still heaving as she gulped in air, trying to calm her breathing, calm herself.

_Harry lay there, still and unmoving._

It was no use. She sat up, frantically searching for the part in curtain around her bed. She pulled the panels open and took in a deep draught of the cooler air.

_It was just a dream._

She knew that. Had had the dream before, and Harry had been fine.

But no matter how many times she repeated the words, the image of Harry, lying on the floor of the chamber with giant fangs sticking out of his chest and a pool of blood and water surrounding him, appeared.

The last time she'd had the dream was during the summer, a week before her brothers took their father's car to fetch Harry from his awful family.

Ginny'd crept downstairs to get some biscuits and milk before returning to bed. She knew he was safe at his aunt and uncle's house and had been able to push aside the dream and fall back into a dreamless though fitful sleep.

This was the first time she'd had the dream here at school, though. It must be because of the Tri-Wizard Tournament and the danger Harry was now in. She knew Ron and Hermione, Hagrid, Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall, and Sirius Black were all quite worried about his safety.

Not that she had any sort of power to protect him, but she'd secretly made herself his watcher. Whenever she could, she watched. Not just him, but those around him. If anything or anyone looked or sounded suspicious, she'd go straight to Professor McGonagall. So far she'd seen or heard nothing that they didn't already know.

Right now, though, she actually needed to see Harry. To make sure he was all right. She knew he was, deep down. But there was no way she'd get back to sleep if she didn't see for herself.

The fire crackled in the stove in the center of the room and she listened for the deep even breathing of her fellow third-years. Everything sounded normal and she slipped from her bed. She donned her dressing gown and slippers against the nighttime chill and left the room. Until she passed the door to the girls bathroom, that would be her reason for being out of bed.

The corridor and common room were quiet and Ginny breathed easier. Now she had to get to the fourth-years boys dorm. If she were caught now, her excuse was that she'd had a bad dream about Ron and just wanted to reassure herself that her brother was all right.

The door to Harry and Ron's dorm opened easily and Ginny relaxed a little at the sounds of snoring coming from at least three of the beds. Ron's was the loudest though. There was no mistaking that rumble. But no one stirred as she crossed the room and approached Harry's bed. His curtains were also closed so she moved to the side farthest away from Ron, just in case.

Shiny silvery moonlight shone through the mullioned windows allowing Ginny to see the great shadowed shape of Harry's bed. With gentle motions, she felt along the draperies, searching for the edges of the panels. When she found them, she stepped right next to the bed and closed them behind her.

It was just as pitch black in his bed as it was in hers.

His breathing was deep and even, and the lingering scent of bath soap and laundry detergent and _Harry_ filled the warm space. All her old feelings came flooding back.

She should go. She shouldn't be here.

She backed up a step and stopped.

Harry's limp, bleeding form appeared in her mind's eye.

Drat.

"Harry?" she whispered.

"Ginny?" came a rough, sleepy voice from below her.

"Shh. . . . Are you all right?" The fact that he registered who she was from a dead sleep and by only a whisper made her giddy.

"I was sleeping."

She heard him shift around, probably sitting up.

"What are you doing here?" he murmured.

Did she dare tell him? It seemed silly all of a sudden. He was obviously fine.

"Ginny? What is it? Are you okay? Do I need to wake Ron?"

"_No._ I'm fine. It's you, actually . . . I had an awful dream and just couldn't go back to sleep. I had to make sure you were all right."

A hand landed on her breast and just left it just as quickly. "_Sorry!_ I'm sorry," he hissed quietly.

Her own hand covered the place his had just been. Heat rushed to her face. She knew he hadn't done it on purpose, but Merlin—_he'd touched her boob. _It tingled where he'd made contact.

But it didn't matter. She pushed her reaction aside. "No, it's all right. It's fine. It was an accident. I'll go."

"No. Stay. Tell me about your dream. It'll help to tell someone. I promise."

She was quiet for a moment as she considered it. Was she really ready to confide in Harry, to take this step, draw closer to him? "Are you sure?" she asked.

"Yes, I'm sure. Of course, you're going to have to come up here on the bed."

"_What?_"Get up on his bed? Merlin's pants.

"Well, I won't be able to hear you too well, unless you want everyone else to hear you as well."

She let our her breath. Was she really contemplating this?

Yes, she was.

"All right." She clambered up and sat next to him, her knees pulled to her chest, arms wrapped around her legs.

She stifled the urge to laugh maniacally. Here she was in Harry Potter's bed, in the middle of the night, with four other boys just a stone's throw away, one of them her brother. If _any_ of her brothers saw her, they'd have a fit. Fred and George, once they got over the initial outrage, would think it a great lark that she'd snuck into the boys dormitory. Mum would . . . Ginny shuddered to think what Mum would do and let the thought drift away. She would tell Harry the dream and then she would go back to her own bed, and no one but she and Harry would be the wiser.

"So, this dream?" Harry asked.

Ginny startled a bit, but said, "Oh, right." And suddenly, it was easy to talk to him. It was dark, and she couldn't see him, and he couldn't see her. For some strange reason, the intimacy of it all just became comfortable and safe. She let out a breath and relaxed and said, "Well, it was about the chamber. And the basilisk and it . . ." It took all of three minutes to tell him the whole thing. "And I tried to go back to sleep. I _knew_ you were all right, but every time I closed my eyes, I saw you lying on the stone floor with your blood pouring out and I just had to make sure.

"You must think I'm a nutter, but after our previous encounter, it just seemed so real and I was so worried."

She hated that she sounded like such a scared little girl, but Harry seemed not to notice.

He put an arm around her. "Well, as you can see-or hear, I guess-I'm fine."

Her stomach began doing somersaults and back flips, but she tamped down her new feelings and only murmured, "Yeah." It didn't mean anything. It was brotherly, that's all. Just like he'd do for Hermione if she were upset. She relaxed again, slowly, and they sat in the semi-silence for a time, the only sound that of the other boys' snores breaching the bed curtains and the thumping of Ginny's heart.

When she could finally talk normally again, she said, "I'm sorry I woke you. You must be kept awake by plenty of your own dreams."

"How do you know about them?"

"Ron's mentioned it a time or two. I know you tell Ron and Hermione, but I'm a good listener, too. Of course, you won't be able to sneak into the girls dorm and climb into my bed to do it, but . . ."

Harry chuckled.

"Any theories on how your name ended up in the Goblet?"

She felt him move as if he were shaking his head.

"No."

They talked quietly for a while and she finally felt drowsy enough to get back to sleep. But that meant leaving this warm haven, leaving Harry. He didn't seem all that anxious for her leave either, so they sat there in the silence for a while.

"_What the bloody hell?_"

Ginny blinked and sat up, rubbing her eyes. Why was Ron in the girls dorm and how had he breached the sliding staircase?

"What's your problem, Ron?" asked Harry with a sleepy voice.

Ginny's stomach dropped.

_Oh, no . . . _

"My problem? What's my _problem_?

"_My little sister's in your bed, mate!_ My thirteen-year-old sister. That's my bleeding problem."

Harry looked over at her, squinting. "Oh. Good morning, Ginny."

Though she felt the blush rush from her toes to her hair, she followed his lead and said, "Morning, Harry."

By this time, Dean, Seamus, and Neville had been roused, and they stood like a wall behind Ron looking down at her and Harry. Dean and Seamus exchanged grins.

"Way to go, Harry," offered Dean.

Harry smiled, but she saw his cheeks pinken.

Ron turned on Dean. "Not 'way to go, Harry'," he bellowed, grabbing a fistful of Dean's pajama shirt, "that's my sister. You say one word about this and I'll send Fred and George after you."

That threat sobered Dean right up, and the smile slid from Seamus's face as well.

Neville just stood there the whole time looking uncertain.

"Ron, shut the hell up. It's like this, I had a bad dream about Harry and the basilisk. From the Chamber two years ago, remember?"

Dean, Seamus and Neville nodded, and Ron still glowered.

"I just . . ." She felt the heat rise on her face again, but plunged forward. She didn't want Harry to get in trouble, or for him and Ron to break apart over this. ". . . it really scared me. So I just came to check on him. I accidentally woke him up so I told him about the dream, then we started talking and I guess . . . I guess we fell asleep.

"I swear-that's all that happened. Besides why the heck would I want to shag Harry in the same room as you lot?"

Ron turned scarlet again, Dean and Seamus grinned again, and Neville's eyebrows disappeared beneath his fringe.

_Shite._ Her face burned even hotter. "Provided, of course, I wanted to shag Harry at all," she added with a shrug, feigning the non-chalance she certainly didn't feel.

"_You better not want to shag anyone_," roared Ron. "Now get the hell out of Harry's bed and get back to your own room."

She was about to say something to Ron, but thought better of it. She'd rarely seen him this pissed off, and his anger had never been directed at her. There was no telling what he might do or say, and if he decided to say something to Mum or any of their older brothers, she was done for.

She scrambled from Harry's bed without a backward glance at any of them, most especially Harry, and disappeared from the room. Luckily, it was still fairly early and it was a Saturday, so most people were still asleep. After a stop in the girls loo, she returned to her room and climbed into her bed.

The night and morning's events replayed in her head and by the time she got to the part where Ron was yelling and turning frightening shades of red, Ginny could barely hold back her giggles.

In all her daydreams and imaginings about Harry, she'd never once even thought about sleeping _or_ shagging him.

And now, she could claim, she was sure, that she was the first girl to ever sleep with Harry Potter.


End file.
